POLAND – I am at the Bishop’s Palace in Krakow, looking at the Papal Window, where a picture of John Paul II has been put up to mark the spot where the Poland-born pope once stood as he addressed his young countrymen.

My group is listening to our tour guide – “call me Big Tom” – talk about the late pope, as well as the late United States president Ronald Reagan, who had helped Poland stand up to the Russians during the Cold War. The two leaders are held up as heroes in Poland.